Strategy game with geometrical structure

ABSTRACT

The present invention is an educational and recreational apparatus having a geometrical structure or game device, which can be any structure of geometrical shapes with a plurality of nodes composed by edges. The game device can be designed as two-dimensional or three-dimensional, single-plane or multi-plane, latticed or non-latticed geometrical structure. Said nodes of a game device are categorized by the degree of freedom defined by the number of edges connected to the node. The game is played with two groups of spherical game pieces and begins with no game pieces positioning on the game device. While in playing, each player put a game piece in turn on nodes of the game device. Said game piece cannot be moved or removed after being put on a node until it is captured by opponent pieces. The player who occupies more nodes than opponent wins the game.

[0001] U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,687B1, issued to Lenhart, discloses amulti-board game. Although the inventor defines the game as a boardgame, it provides players a multi-plane game device in which to formsquares of one color with game pieces.

[0002] U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,685B1, issued to Sterling, discloses athree-dimensional board game. The game structure is also a multi-boardstructure, like the U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,687B1, and provides players amulti-plane game device instead of the flat single plane game board.

[0003] U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,819, issued to Underwood, discloses athree-dimensional strategy game. The game is played on a multi-boardgame structure, and game pieces are moveable among game boards.

[0004] All above multi-plane strategy games have not developed a gamedevice utilizing geometrical structure, and playing the game on thenodes of the structure. Unlike above multi-plane strategy games, thepresent invention developed the game device based on the geometricalprinciples. Instead of playing on the grids of board surfaces orinserting spherical pieces inside the center of the game device cubes,the present invention developed the game by embedding spherical gamepieces on the nodes of geometrical structure. Moreover, instead of usinga single uniformed device to play the game, present invention allowsplayers to develop their own game devices as long as their game devicesfollow rules and requirements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The present invention is a new pattern of the multi-planestrategy game playing on a multi-plane geometrical structure. Unlikeprior art multi-plane strategy games such as multi-board strategic gamesor the game with 3-dimensional matrix, the present invention developedgame device by utilizing the geometrical graph principles and concepts,and developed the strategic game by embedding spherical game pieces onnodes of the geometrical game device. Unlike prior art multi-planestrategy games such as multi-board strategy games and the games withmulti-dimensional matrix, the present invention does not use the singleuniformed structure as the standard game device. Instead, the presentinvention allows players to design and develop their own game devices aslong as their designs following rules and requirements, such that thegame device should be a kind of geometric graphic pattern with aplurality of nodes, and the edges or wires that formed nodes should bewith identical length and diameter.

[0006] The game device developed by the present invention or by playerscan be classified with different categories. Based on dimensions, thegame device can be classified as “two-dimensional” or“three-dimensional”. Based on the number of planes involved, the gamedevice can be categorized as “single-plane”, “two-plane”, and“multi-plane”. Based on the characteristics of the structure, the gamedevice can be grouped as “latticed” and “non-latticed”. Based on thedegree of freedom of nodes, the game device can be classified as “threedegree”, “four degree”, “five degree” and “six degree” devices.

[0007] Since there are different nodes with different degree of freedomin a game device, the game pieces, which are spherical shape withgrooves on the surface for embedding on nodes of the game device, areaccordingly categorized based on the number of grooves. The game piecewith four grooves is used to embed on the four-degree nodes, and so iscalled “four degree game piece”. Similarly, the game piece with sixgrooves is classified as “six degree game piece”. And so on.

[0008] The game is played with two colored game piece groups, each colorassociates a single player. The game begins with no game piecespositioned on the game device. Then players embed game pieces in turn onnodes of the game device. Once a game piece is embedded on a node of thegame device, it cannot be moved or removed until it is captured byopponent player's game pieces, or the game is over.

[0009] A game piece is captured if all adjacent nodes of the game piecewere occupied by opponent player's game pieces. A group of game piecesare captured if all adjacent nodes of the group were occupied byopponent pieces and there are no non-occupied nodes inside the group.

[0010] The player who occupies more nodes than its opponent wins a game.However, since certain nodes of a game device are with more advantagethan other nodes and first occupier of these nodes usually have moreadvantages (for example, nodes on the 2^(nd) and 3^(rd) lines from thecorner of the latticed game device have more advantage than others forcontrolling the corner.), the present invention sets up rules incliningto the second mover

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0011] 1. Field of the Invention

[0012] The invention related to educational and recreational device andmore particularly to a method of developing the integrating view ofspace and multi-plane geometrical graphs.

[0013] 2. Description of Related Art

[0014] Strategy games such as Chess, Checker and Go are usually playedon game boards, which are flat, two-dimensional single-plane devices.The present invention is the strategy game playing on multi-planedevice. The multi-plane geometrical strategy game is basically differentfrom the board game in device and methodology.

[0015] Some multi-plane strategy games developed some specificstructures with specific playing rules.

[0016] U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,681, issued to Allen, discloses a multi-planestrategy game structure consists of a lattice type matrix forming aplurality of open cubes. When playing, players insert game pieces, theplay balls, into the center of the cube of the matrix. to balance thesecond mover's disadvantage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017]FIG. 1 is the view of a 4-degree, two-dimensional, single-planeand 9 by 9 latticed game device. Graph “A”, the top graph, is the topdown view of the game device. Graph “B”, the bottom graph, is theperspective view of the game device on a baseboard with several gamepieces embedded on nodes of the structure.

[0018]FIG. 2 is the view of a 3-degree, two-dimensional, single-planeand non-latticed game device with a honeycomb pattern. Graph “A”, thetop one, is the top down view of the game device. Graph “B”, the bottomone, is the perspective view of the game device on a baseboard withseveral game pieces embedded on nodes of the structure.

[0019]FIG. 3 is the view of a 6-degree, two-dimensional, single-planeand non-latticed game device with enhanced honeycomb pattern. Graph “A”,the top one, is the top down view of the game device. Graph “B”, thebottom one, is the perspective view of the game device on a baseboardwith several game pieces embedded on nodes of the structure.

[0020]FIG. 4 depicts a game device (on the top) and a clip (on thebottom). The clip is the tool used to load and unload game pieces on theinner nodes of the game device. The drawing on top is the perspectiveview of the 6-degree, three-dimensional, 2-plane latticed game devicewith 9×9×9 pattern. In the drawing, “A” is the baseboard, “B” is thestructure and “C” is game pieces embedded on the nodes. On the bottom ofthe figure, graph “D-1” is the sectional drawing of the clip. Graph“D-2” is the sectional drawing of the clip when the clip is in use forholding a game piece. Graph “D-3” is the perspective view of the clip.

[0021]FIG. 5 depicts a game device (on the top) and a clip (on thebottom). The top picture is the perspective view of a 5-degree,three-dimensional, 2-plane latticed game device with honeycomb pattern.“A” is the baseboard, “B” is the structure and “C” is game piecesembedded on the nodes. On the bottom of the figure, graph “D-1” is thesectional drawing of a clip. Graph “D-2” is the sectional drawing of theclip when the clip is in use for holding a game piece. Graph “D-3” isthe perspective view of the clip.

[0022]FIG. 6 is the perspective view of a mono-degree,three-dimensional, 16-plane non-latticed game device with 4 game pieceson the nodes. For this game device, every node has 3 degree of freedom.

[0023]FIG. 7 is the perspective view of a mono-degree,three-dimensional, 6-plane non-latticed game device. This game device isa Dodecahedron shape structure. For this game device, every node has 3degree of freedom.

[0024]FIG. 8 is the perspective view of a mono-degree,three-dimensional, 10-plane non-latticed game device. This game deviceis a typical Icosahedrons shape structure. For this game device, everynode has 5 degree of freedom.

[0025]FIG. 9 is the view of a baseboard. Graph “A” is the perspectiveview of the board. Graph “B” is the top down view of the board. Andgraph “C” is the sectional drawing of the board from the section line“B-2”. The board is horizontally rotative around the center. Arrows“B-1” indicate the direction of rotating. Graph “C” depicts the detailedinner structure of the board. “C-1” is the main part of the board. “C-2”is a round disc embedded underneath of the main part with a metal ball(“C-3”) embedded in the board center, which made the board rotating. Onthe surface of the board, there are pluralities of holes. These holesare used to hold edges or poles supporting the structure or game device.In this board, holes are arranged in rectangular shape.

[0026]FIG. 10 is the view of a baseboard like the FIG. 9. The onlydifference from FIG. 9 is that the holes of the board are arranged in ahoneycomb shape.

[0027]FIG. 11 depicts how the tube-and-wire-connecting method works.From the zoomed area, “A” is the hole on the board, “B” is the tubeplugging into the hole, and “C”, is the wire plugging into the tube.Tube and varied wire connectors are shown on the bottom of the figure.“D” is the perspective view of the tube. “E-1” is a 600 wire-connector.“E-2” is a 72° wire-connector. “E-3 is a 90° wire-connector. “E-4” is a108° wire-connector, and “E-5” is a 120° wire-connector.

[0028]FIG. 12 is the assembling view of the tube-and-wire-connecting.Like FIG. 11, “A” is the hole on the board to hold supporting pole; B'sare tubes and C's are wire connectors. More than that, this figurefurther depicts the connecting method by applying more tubes and morewire connectors, which can be seen more clearly in the zoomed area.

[0029]FIG. 13 is an assembling view of the tube-and-wire-connectingsystem with labels on tubes and wires. “1”, “2” and “3” are wires. “a”,“b” and “c” are tubes.

[0030]FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a part of the honeycomb structuremade by tube-and-wire-connecting. “A” is the hole on the board, “B” isthe tube, and “C” is the wire connectors.

[0031]FIG. 15 is the view of game pieces. Picture “A-1” is the top viewof the 4-degree game piece. Picture “A-2” is the front view of the4-degree game piece. Picture “A-3” is the side view of the 4-degree gamepiece. Picture “A-4” is the section view of the 4-degree game piece. Andpicture “A-5” is the perspective view of the 4-degree game piece. In themiddle line, the picture “B-1” is the top view of the 6-degree gamepiece. Picture “B-2” is the front view. Picture “B-3” is the side view.Picture “B-4” is the section view. And picture “B-5” is the perspectiveview. On the bottom of the figure, the picture “C-1” is the top view ofthe 5-degree game piece. Picture “C-2” is the front view. Picture “C-3”is the side. Picture “C-4” is the section view. And picture “C-5” is theperspective view.

[0032]FIG. 16 is the view of a three-dimensional, 16-plane non-latticedmono-degree game device with pieces on the nodes, which depicts some ofthe game rules: At the beginning, there is no game pieces positioned onthe game device; The game is played by two players, who put game piecesin turn on nodes of the game device; There are two colored game piecegroups, and each color associates to one player; and dark-colored gamepiece moves first. In the picture, the black-colored game piece movesfirst, then the white one, and then the black one, and so on.

[0033]FIG. 17 depicts how the black piece “7” captures a white-coloredgame piece “6”.

[0034]FIG. 18 shows the result of capturing depicted by FIG. 17.

[0035]FIG. 19 depicts how a group of black pieces (“1”, “3”, “9”, “11”,“15”) is captured by white pieces (“2”, “6”, “12”, “14”, “6”).

[0036]FIG. 20 shows the result of the capture depicted in FIG. 19.

[0037]FIG. 21 depicts the game rule: suicide is forbidden. The move ofwhite piece “8” on the picture is illegal since the node is surroundedby the black pieces.

[0038]FIG. 22 points the node “A”, which is surrounded by black pieces.However, if a white piece puts on node “A”, it will not be suicidebecause it captures the black piece “45”.

[0039]FIG. 23 shows the legal move of white piece numbered “10”. Afterwhite piece “10” being put on the game device, the black piece “5” iscaptured.

[0040]FIG. 24 shows the result of the move depicted by FIG. 23. Afterbeing put white piece “10”, black piece “5” is removed from the gamedevice.

[0041]FIG. 25 depicts an illegal move made by black piece “11”. Sincethe white piece “10” has just captured “5” (depicted in FIG. 24), theblack piece “11” violates the rule of “immediately counter capture isnot allowed”.

[0042]FIG. 26 shows that the black piece “11” moves to other positioninstead of doing “immediate counter capture”. The white piece “12” nowcan either moves on the position of “5” (see FIG. 23) or puts onsomewhere else.

[0043]FIG. 27 shows that the white piece “12” does not fill in theposition of captured black piece, the black piece “13” now has a chanceto fight back and capture white piece “10”.

[0044]FIG. 28 shows the result of the capture done by black piece.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0045] As shown from FIG. 1 to FIG. 8, the game device of the presentinvention can be any type of geometrical structure. It can betwo-dimensional (FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3) or three-dimensional (FIG.4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8). It can be set in a one-planespace (FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3), or in a two-plane space (FIG. 4 andFIG. 5), or in a multi-plane space (FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8). The gamedevice can be developed with different geometrical types, eitherlatticed like FIG. 4 or non-latticed such as FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8.

[0046] These game devices can also be classified by the degree offreedom of their nodes. The number of edges connected to a node definesthe degree of freedom of the node. The number of degrees of a node isequal to the number of edges or wires connected to the node. Suppose ‘N’is a valid positive integer, said node is the node with “V” degree offreedom or “N” degree node if there are “N” edges connecting to thenode. For example, four corner nodes of the game device in FIG. 1 aretwo-degree nodes because they all have two wires or two edges connectedto the corner point. And those nodes on four sides of the game device inFIG. 1 are all with three edges connected together, so they arethree-degree nodes. Then all other nodes in the center of the gamedevice in FIG. 1 are four-degree nodes since they all have four edgesconnected together. Said game device is the mono-degree game device ifall nodes of the game device have the same degree of freedom, otherwise,said game device is the multi-degree game device. The node with thehighest degree in a game device determines the degree of the gamedevice. For example, the game device in FIG. 1 is the 4-degree gamedevice since the node with the highest degree is the 4-degree node.

[0047]FIG. 1 to FIG. 8 shows some cases of mono-degree game devices andmulti-degree game devices. For example, the game device in FIG. 6 is amono-degree game device because all nodes of the structure arethree-degree nodes. The game device in FIG. 7 is also the mono-degreegame device since all nodes in the structure are three-degree nodes. Thegame device in FIG. 8 is the mono-degree game device with five-degreenodes. Latticed game devices are multi-degree game devices becauselatticed device has corner and sides, and nodes in these differentpositions will accordingly be with different degree of freedom. Forexample, the game device in FIG. 4 is a latticed, three-dimensional,two-plane, multi-degree game device. Eight corner nodes are three-degreenodes (the supporting pole does not count for the degree of freedom).Nodes on twelve ridges are all four-degree nodes. Nodes on six sidesurfaces of the game device are all five-degree nodes. And the nodes inthe center of the game device are all six-degree nodes. Since the degreeof the game device is determined by the degree of the nodes that arewith highest number of degrees, the game device in FIG. 4 is thesix-degree game device. Similarly, the game device in FIG. 5 isfive-degree game device.

[0048] Based on above categories, the game device in FIG. 1 is atwo-dimensional, single-plane, non-latticed four-degree game device. Thegame device in FIG. 2 is a two-dimensional, single-plane, non-latticedthree-degree game device. The game device in FIG. 3 is atwo-dimensional, single-plane, non-latticed six-degree game device. Thegame device in FIG. 4 is a three-dimensional, two-plane, latticedsix-degree game device. The game device in FIG. 5 is athree-dimensional, two-plane, and latticed five-degree game device. Thegame device in FIG. 6 is a three-dimensional, 16-plane, non-latticedthree-degree game device. The game device in FIG. 7 is athree-dimensional, 6-plane, non-latticed three-degree game device. Thegame device in FIG. 8 is a three-dimensional, 10-plane, non-latticedfive-degree game device.

[0049] To help players to reach the center nodes of latticed gamedevices in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the present invention suggests using clipto load and unload game pieces. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 depict the structureof the clip. On the bottom of the FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, graph “D-1” is thesectional drawing of the clip. Graph “D-2” is the sectional drawing ofthe clip when the clip is in use for holding a game piece. Graph “D-3”is the perspective view of the clip.

[0050]FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 depict the game device baseboard. The gamedevice baseboard provides a physical base for building geometricalstructures with tube-and-wire-connecting method. Based on thearrangement of the holes, which are used to hold the supporting poles,baseboards can be classified as the square baseboard and non-squarebaseboard. If all holes on the surface of the baseboard are arrangedinto the square shape like the one in FIG. 9, the baseboard is thesquare baseboard. Others are non-square baseboards like the one in FIG.10.

[0051] On FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, there are three graphs to depict thestructure of the baseboard. Graph “A” is the perspective view of thebaseboard. Graph “B is the top view of the baseboard with curved arrowlines (B-1) indicating the board is rotative. And graph “C” is thesection view of the baseboard from the sectional line B-2 to show howthe inner structure of the board makes it rotary. “C-1” is the main partof the baseboard. “C-2” is a round disc embedded underneath the mainpart with a metal ball (“C-3”) embedded in the board center, which makesthe board rotating.

[0052] The present invention introduces a tube-and-wire-connectingmethod for the game device building. FIG. 11 to FIG. 14 shows how thetube-and-wire-connecting method works.

[0053]FIG. 11 depicts the tube-and-wire-connecting method. From thezoomed area, “A” is the hole on the board, “B” is the tube plugging intothe hole, and “C” is the wires plugging into the tube. For the tube andwire connecting properly, the inner diameter of the tube should begreater than or equal to the sum of two wire diameters. Tube anddifferent type of wire connectors are shown on the bottom of the figure.“D” is the perspective view of the tube. “E-1” is a 60° wire-connector.“E-2” is a 72° wire-connector. “E-3 is a 90° wire-connector. “E-4” is a108° wire-connector, and “E-5” is a 120° wire-connector. Users canselect any of these wire connectors to create a needed geometricalstructure.

[0054]FIG. 12 is the assembling view of the tube-and-wire-connecting.Like FIG. 11, “A” is the hole on the board to hold supporting pole; B'sare tubes and C's are wire connectors. More than that, this figurefurther depicts the connecting method by applying more tubes and morewire connectors. There are two upright tubes on the board. The left onehas two wire connectors. The right one has three tubes and four wireconnectors composing a node. To connect tubes, the wire connector putone end into one tube and another end into other tube. On the top of thefigure, ends of wire-connectors project out into the air, which meansthat the structure is not finished and the wire connectors are ready toconnect another tube.

[0055]FIG. 13 is an assembling view of the tube-and-wire-connectingsystem with labels on tubes and wire connectors. Three tubes and threewire connectors are used to form a node. In the zoomed area, one end ofwire-connector “1” is inserted in tube “a”, and another end is insertedin tube “b”. Then, one end of wire-connector “2” is inserted in “b” andanother end is inserted in “c”. Further, one end of “3” is inserted in“a” and another end is inserted in “c”. The combination passed on fromwire-connector “1”-“3”, wire-connector “1”-“2”, to wire-connector“2”-“3” to connect tube “a”, “b” and “c”. In this way, every twowire-connectors formed a “plug” that is wide enough to fill the innerdiameter of the tube, and connected all three tubes together. The methodcan be applied to nodes with different degree of freedom. For example,the 4-degree node can be formed with 4 tubes and 4 wire connectors;5-degree node can be formed with 5 tubes and 5 wire connectors, and soon.

[0056] A more complicate case of the tube-and-wire-connecting is shownin FIG. 14. On FIG. 14, a three-dimensional honeycomb structure isbuilding. A hexagon shape has been made by the tube-and-wire connectingmethod. Further, on each corner of the hexagon, two wire ends projectout waiting for a tube to be filled in. After all projected ends arefilled; another run of tube-and-wire-connecting will start on the newlayer of the structure. In this way, the whole structure can be builtlayer by layer.

[0057] The tube-and-wire-connecting method is used for buildingnon-computer-based game device. If developing the computer-basedgeometrical structure, the tube-and-wire-connecting method will be nouse. However, to develop a computer-based game device, developers shoulduse the computer language or software that has functions ofthree-dimensional graph development, as well as the functions ofthree-dimensional graph animations.

[0058] When the game device is set up, the game can be played with gamepieces. The game piece is a spherical shape with a number of groovesprojected from the center. The degree of a node determines the number ofgrooves of the game piece. For example, if a game piece is used forembedding on the node with 4-degree of freedom, then the game pieceshould have 4 grooves. The number of grooves of a game piece determinesthe degree of the game piece. For example, if there are 4 grooves on agame piece, the game piece is the four-degree game piece.

[0059]FIG. 15 depicts three game pieces. One is the game piece with 4grooves projected from the center, which is depicted from the top lineof the picture. This is a 4-degree game piece that will be used forembedding on the 4-degree nodes. The second one, which is depicted fromthe middle line of the picture, is the game piece with 6 groovesprojected from the center. This is a 6-degree game piece that will beused for embedding on the 6-degree node or 3-degree node. The third one,which is depicted from the bottom line of the picture, is a 5-degreegame piece since it has 5 grooves projected from the center and will beused for embedding on the 5-degree node. Further, this figure displaysdetailed views of each of these three game pieces.

[0060]FIG. 16 to FIG. 28 depicts the rules of this multi-plane strategygame. A three-dimensional, 16-plane, non-latticed three-degree gamedevice is used to explain these rules.

[0061] The first rule states: “There are two colored game piece groups.Each color associates to a single player.” In FIG. 16, two game piecegroups are embedded on the nodes of the structure, one is black andanother is white.

[0062] The second rule states: “The game device pattern should bedesigned, determined and accepted by both sides.” Since this multi-planestrategy game has no single uniformed “standard” game device, playershave to decide which game device pattern should be used. Players canchoose their liked game device patterns or even create a new patternunder the agreement of both sides.

[0063] The third rule states: “When beginning, no game pieces arepositioned in the game device.” That means this multi-plane strategygame does not have pre-setting pieces on the game device before the gamestarts. So, when beginning, players are facing an empty game device.

[0064] The fourth rule states: “Each player embeds one game piece inturn on a node of the game device. The dark colored game piece movesfirst.” The FIG. 16 depicts this rule. The black piece moves first onposition “1”, then white one moves on position “2”. And then, in turn,black moves on “3”. After that, the white piece moves on “4”.

[0065] The fifth rule states: “Once a game piece is embedded on a node,moving or removing it is not allowed unless it is captured or the gameis over.” That means the game piece of the multi-plane strategy game isnot moveable like game pieces in Chess.

[0066] The sixth rule states: “A piece is captured if all its adjacentnodes were occupied by opponent pieces. A group of pieces are capturedif all its adjacent nodes were occupied by opponent pieces and there areno non-occupied nodes inside this group.” FIG. 17 to FIG. 20 depictsthis rule in details. In FIG. 17, black piece “7” captured white piece“6” since all adjacent nodes of “6” are occupied by black pieces after“7” embedded on the node. Then FIG. 18 shows what it looks like afterwhite piece “6” was captured. FIG. 19 shows how a group of black piecesis captured by white pieces when white piece “16” is embedded on thenode. And then, FIG. 20 shows how it looks like after piece “16”captured the group of black pieces.

[0067] The seventh rule states: “Suicide is forbidden.” FIG. 21 showshow white piece “8” involved an illegal movement. Since all adjacentnodes of the position “8” are occupied by black pieces, put white pieceon the node is equal to suicide, so it is illegal.

[0068] The eighth rule states: “Immediate counter capture is notallowed.” This rule is very important for the game to progress fairlyand reasonably. Without this rule, the game will be locked in an endlesscapture and counter captures process. FIG. 22 to FIG. 28 depicts thisrule.

[0069]FIG. 22 points the node “A”, which is surrounded by black pieces.However, if a white piece puts on node “A”, it will not be a suicidebecause it captures the black piece “5”. FIG. 23 shows the legal move ofwhite piece numbered “10”. After white piece “10” being put on the gamedevice, the black piece “5” is captured.

[0070]FIG. 24 shows the result of FIG. 23. After white piece “10”, blackpiece “5” is removed from the game device. According to the eighth rule,after white piece “10” captured black piece “5” (in picture FIG. 23 andFIG. 24), the black piece is not allowed to put back on the node tocounter capture white piece “10” immediately. FIG. 25 depicts theillegal move of black piece “1”. FIG. 26 depicts the legal moves afterthe white piece “10” captured black piece “5” (depicted in FIG. 23 andFIG. 24). In this picture, black piece “11” does not do immediatecounter capture but moves to other position. After that, the white piece“12” can either put the piece on the position “5” (depicted in FIG. 23)or put on somewhere else. FIG. 27 shows that white piece “12” does notput on the position “5” (depicted in FIG. 23). Since the white piece“12” did not fill in the position of “5” (see FIG. 23), the black piecehas a chance to fight back and capture white piece “10”. The black piece“13” then captures white piece “10”. FIG. 28 shows the result of countercapture done by black piece.

[0071] The player who occupies more nodes than its opponent wins a game.However, since certain nodes of a game device are with more advantagethan other nodes and the first occupier of these nodes usually has moreadvantages, the present invention sets up rules inclining to the secondmover of the game to balance the second mover's disadvantage. Forexample, in the latticed three-dimensional game device, the 2^(nd) and3^(rd) line nodes from corner point can control the nodes of the cornereasily and efficiently. To occupy the whole corner, one or two gamepieces on these nodes will do. So, the first occupier of these key nodeswill have more advantage than that of the second mover. For this reason,the rule (The ninth rule) states that If the number of nodes of a gamedevice is odd and total nodes equal to “N”, the player who moves firstwins the game if said player occupied at least (N+1)/2+1 nodes. If thenumber of nodes of a game device is even and total nodes equal to ‘N’,the player who moves first wins the game if said player occupied atleast N/2+1 nodes.

I claim:
 1. A method and apparatus of playing strategy game is amulti-plane strategy game, if said strategy game playing on amulti-dimensional and multi-plane game device.
 2. A method and apparatusof playing the multi-plane strategy game, comprising: A game device witha plurality of nodes composed by rigid edges or wires with the identicallength and diameter. Two groups of spherical game-pieces with identicalcolor and varied degree of freedom. A method of the game comprising aset of rules and steps.
 3. A method and apparatus of playing themulti-plane strategy game according to claim 2 wherein said game deviceis defined as a geometrical structure or geometrical type game devicewith a plurality of nodes formed by rigid edges or wires with identicallength and diameter. Said geometrical structure can be 2-dimensional or3-dimensional, single-plane or multi-plane, latticed or non-latticeddevice, and can be with different degrees of freedom. Said geometricalstructure can be built up on a baseboard, which is a flat smooth planewith a plurality of holes on its surface for holding supporting poles(FIG. 9 and FIG. 10). Said geometrical structure can be built up withthe tube-and-wire-connecting method (FIG. 11 to FIG. 14) fornon-computer-based pattern. Said edges or wires that compose of thenodes are the rigid lines with identical length and diameter. Said nodesof the geometrical structure are the hubs or connection points on whereedges or wires connected together (FIG. 1 to FIG. 8 displays somepatterns of the game device).
 4. A method and apparatus of playing themulti-plane strategy game according to claim 3 wherein saidtube-and-wire-connecting method is defined as a method of composinggeometrical structures with a plurality of tube-type edges with theidentical length and diameter, and a plurality of wire-connectors withvaried angles. FIG. 11 to FIG. 14 displays some of these wire-connectorssuch as the 60° wire connector, the 72° wire-connector, the 90°wire-connector, the 108° wire-connector, and the 120° wire-connector.The inner diameter of said tube must be greater than or equal to the sumof two wire-connectors' diameters. FIG. 11, FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 depictthe actual steps of connecting tubes with angled wire-connectors.
 5. Amethod and apparatus of playing the multi-plane strategy game accordingto claim 3 wherein said 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional geometricalstructure is defined based on dimensions of the structure. Saidstructure is 2-dimensional if the structure is built on a single planein the space, either the structure is float lying on a horizontal planeor upright on a vertical plane. Said geometrical structure is3-dimensional if the structure is built in the multi-plane space.
 6. Amethod and apparatus of playing the multi-plane strategy game accordingto claim 3 wherein said single-plane or multi-plane device is defined bythe number of planes involved in the space where the geometricalstructure is built up. If said game device is built up on a flatsurface, it is the single-plane game device (see FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG.3). If said game device is built up in space with two-plane, the gamedevice is two-plane device (see FIG. 4 and FIG. 5). If said game deviceis built up in space with more than two planes, the game device is theN-plane device (see FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8), where “N” is a positiveinteger.
 7. A method and apparatus of playing the multi-plane strategygame according to claim 3 wherein said latticed or non-latticedgeometrical structure is defined based on the geometrical types. If saidstructure is composed as gridiron framework, like latticed net (see FIG.4), said structure is the latticed game device. Otherwise, the structureis non-latticed, like the structures in FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG.
 8. 8. Amethod and apparatus of playing the multi-plane strategy game accordingto claim 3 wherein the degree of freedom of said geometrical structureis defined by the highest number of edges connecting to a single nodewithin said structure. The number of edges connected to a nodedetermines the degree of freedom of the node. Suppose “N” is a positiveinteger, if “N” edges connected to a node, the node is the “N” degreenode. Among all nodes within said structure, the highest degree nodedetermines the degree of freedom of the structure. If all nodes withinsaid structure have the same degree, the structure is defined asmono-degree game device. If nodes within said structure have differentdegrees, the structure is defined as multi-degree game device.
 9. Amethod and apparatus of playing the multi-plane strategy game accordingto claim 2 wherein said spherical game pieces with identical color andvaried degree of freedom are defined by the number of grooves projectedfrom the center of the game piece. Said game piece is the four-degreegame piece if there are four grooves projected from the center of thegame piece (see FIG. 15, top line). Said game piece is the six-degreegame piece if there are six grooves projected from the center of thegame piece (see FIG. 15, middle line). And so on. The four-degree pieceis used to embed on the four-degree nodes, and the five-degree piece isused to embed on the five-degree nodes, while the six-degree piece canbe used to embed on both three-degree nodes and six-degree nodes.
 10. Amethod and apparatus of playing the multi-plane strategy game accordingto claim 2 wherein the method of said game comprising a set of rules andsteps: a. There are two colored game piece groups. Each color associatesto a single player. b. The game device pattern should be designed,determined and accepted by both sides. c. When beginning, no game piecesare positioned in the game device. d. Each player embeds one game piecein turn on a node of the game device. The dark colored (e.g. the blackcolor) game piece moves first. e. Once a game piece is embedded on anode, moving or removing it is not allowed unless it is captured or thegame is over. f. A piece is captured if all its adjacent nodes wereoccupied by opponent pieces. A group of pieces are captured if all itsadjacent nodes were occupied by opponent pieces and there are nonon-occupied nodes inside the group. g. Suicide is forbidden. (FIG. 21depicts this rule.) h. Immediate counter capture is not allowed. (FIG.22 to FIG. 28 depicts this rule.) i. If the number of nodes of a gamedevice is odd and total nodes equal to “N”, the player who moves firstwins the game if said player occupied at least (N+1)/2+1 nodes. Or elseif the first mover occupied (N+1)/2 nodes, the game is drawn. If thenumber of nodes of a game device is even and total nodes equal to “N”,the player who moves first wins the game if said player occupied atleast N/2+1 nodes. Or else if the first mover occupied N/2 nodes, thegame is drawn.